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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28653873">tug of war</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirbita22/pseuds/Kirbita22'>Kirbita22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, bombalurina is there for like 5 seconds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 14:09:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28653873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirbita22/pseuds/Kirbita22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It had started, like many things in his life, on the smallest of whims. A careless thought, an idle moment of interest- curiosity.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger (Cats)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>90</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>tug of war</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had started, like many things in his life, on the smallest of whims. A careless thought, an idle moment of interest- curiosity.</p>
<p>He was, back then, at the tail-end of kittenhood- already stirring up storms at the ball, of course, the eager desire to be grown up replaced with a rebellious childishness almost as soon as the smallest taste of maturity touched his lips. That had always been par for the course to him, desiring only what wasn't in his grasp and losing interest once he had it up close, moving on to the next thing. </p>
<p>Which never meant he didn't know to enjoy what he did have, of course- and enjoy himself he did, flitting around town between all those who wanted him, all of them, like him, eager to test the bounds of what it meant to grow up; that charming age of awkward experience. </p>
<p>But because the Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat, it didn't take too long for his interest to flicker away. </p>
<p>The seasons changed and passed by, and by the time he was a fully grown and experienced cat, he'd had his fill of it all, of the easy catches his already-set-in-stone reputation brought him. Not that he wasn't still out and about constantly- it was simply that his sights were set elsewhere, as always. There was always something new to catch his eye, always something he felt like chasing after.</p>
<p>And it really was just a whim- a thought halfheartedly flitting between his ears, a lazy question that grew the more he thought of it. The notion that arose the first time he watched his friend, charmingly clumsy yet unmistakably talented, practice his soon-to-be famous magical abilities in the corners of the junkyard, face lit up with a sheepishly self-satisfied smile directed just to him. </p>
<p>The problem- and he's still not quite sure if "problem" is the word for it- is that, for whatever reason and unlike all his other whims and wants, Mr. Mistoffelees has refused to leave his mind since then.</p><hr/>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, Rum Tum Tugger does, in fact, know how to take no for an answer- where it matters, at least; of course, he barely ever NEEDS to, when it's so easy for him to get anything- and anyone- he wants, with a little persuasion. But of course, there have been the odd tom and queen here and there who simply aren't interested, and Tugger has always just shrugged and moved on from them.</p>
<p>But lack of interest was not the problem at hand here. No, in fact, a great part of why this had slowly grown to drive him up the walls was the degree to which the opposite was true. Mistoffelees may not throw himself at his friend like a kitten, but Tugger has seen the way the magician looks at him, when he thinks no one's looking. Of course, he likes to play it off and feign annoyance, but he can't even bring himself to pretend seriously; the two have been close friends since much further back, and Tugger was always the first to see him rehearse new acts, acrobatics and powers before anyone else.</p>
<p>And unlike his friend, Tugger had never even tried to hide his admiration for the magical cat. Why would he? People say he has no respect for anything, but they're wrong- Tugger is perfectly happy to recognize and admire those worth respecting. Like Old Deuteronomy. And himself. (It's not being self-centered, it's just a fact.)</p>
<p>Mr. Mistoffelees had always found it quite easy to make his way into that prized category, being the cat he was. Everything about him was remarkable. Tugger was perfectly content to share the spotlight for a cat like that.</p>
<p>And it was easy to tell that Misto loved the spotlight almost as much as Tugger did, but he was a tad coy about it. He didn't like being the one to draw attention to himself- often rolling his eyes when Tugger interrupted others to draw eyes on himself. Quite crass, he remarked. No, Misto enjoyed captivating others without saying a thing, earning admiration by pulse with impeccable showmanship and his unique magical powers, which wasn't hard for him to do. </p>
<p>(He very much appreciated Tugger's efforts to set the stage for him, though, if the thankful smiles he always recieved in exchange, quiet but warm, were any indication.) </p>
<p>Whatever the case, Tugger wasn't shy, and Misto was far too playful about the whole arrangement for it to be a coincidence. It's clear for any to see that despite his faux-protests on the matter, the magician was not inmune to Tugger's charms, especially not when they slowly but surely started to laser-focus on him, when curiosity grew to desire, lazy and hungry. </p>
<p>Rum Tum Tugger had played this game before, he knew of toms and queens who disliked making themselves an easy catch, who liked making him work for it. Tugger was always up for the challenge, and it was always rewarding, the moment he finally managed to conquer the object of his desire (at least for a moment, before he started wanting something else.)</p>
<p>So for a while, he found nothing out of the ordinary with what he and Mistoffelees had. It may be taking longer than usual, but he knew he was on the right path.</p><hr/>
<p>As the seasons flickered by, the two of them drew closer in their nameless orbit. </p>
<p>Their courtship had become something akin to a dance, he thought sometimes, or maybe a battle; the carefully calculated brushes of touch, electric, inevitable. The thin line between stubborn resistance and avid anticipation. Tugger is experienced enough to tell this game of theirs is reaching its climax, the sweet breaking point of synchronicity, the moment they will both be ready to drop pretenses and give in. A surrender and a victory for both.</p>
<p>And yet.</p>
<p>And yet, in the shadows of the alleyway on that that winter night, with their noses almost touching, the air between them far too warm- </p>
<p>Lightheaded as he was, he almost didn't catch it.</p>
<p>Misto's eyes, mesmerized and mirrored with his own desire, suddenly change, blink and you'll miss it, a flicker of something behind that bright bright gaze of his. And before Tugger gets to ask or do anything else with his mouth-</p>
<p>Mr. Mistoffelees is no longer there, a disappearing act quite magical indeed. </p>
<p>He catches a glimpse of him up on a nearby roof, distant, and he can make out his mischievous smile; though for a second, he could swear there's something else mixed in with it, a warmth most peculiar and yet far too melancholic. </p>
<p>Tugger could have chased after him, as the magician leaped away onto the night, but he was far too busy picking his jaw off the floor. By the time he got his bearings, Mistoffelees was long gone.</p><hr/>
<p>Rum Tum Tugger does know how to take no for an answer, let no one doubt that. </p>
<p>If that had been what it was, he wouldn't be so frustrated. If it had been a rejection, his friend simply changing his mind- well, yes, that would have been frustrating too, but not for too long. It would be easy to shrug it off and move on to the next thing. Rejection, he would have known how to deal with.</p>
<p>No, this was infinitely more confusing. Because after than night, Mistoffelees hadn't <em>stopped</em>. Not with the flirting, not with the touches, not with the feigned innocence to their relationship, playful smiles barely covered behind a sneer. It was not, by any measure, a rejection. What it was, however, he didn't know; and begrudgingly, Tugger had to admit the black cat was driving him up the walls.</p>
<p>It doesn't click with him until quite a bit later, when Bombalurina scoffs at him that he's insufferable (though there's no bite behind it, of course, there never is; he sort of likes that about her, when she's not around). </p>
<p>It's nothing new or that he hasn't heard before, and it's nothing he really cares about, but it must have been on her mind because she elaborates- that this (him getting up and thinking about dinner instead of staying to cuddle, most likely, like he ever does anything else) is why he's insufferable: because he doesn't know to enjoy what he has before he starts wanting something else. </p>
<p>He chews on that a while. He didn't think it was fair, exactly. Tugger knows how to enjoy himself. </p>
<p>And yet, there's something to it that he can't deny. He knows the kind of cat he is, everyone does, the one who always desires exactly what he doesn't have right now, who much prefers what he catches for himself to anything he's openly offered. Charming, the kittens would squeal; difficult, his brother would sigh.</p>
<p>A bore, Mistoffelees would say, but he wouldn't really mean it. </p>
<p>Would he?</p>
<p>He thinks, for the first time, about what would actually happen if he had Misto to himself, openly, definitively. He had thought of the moment many times before, but never of the aftermath. Would he stay, for him, for the most amazing cat Tugger had ever laid eyes on? Or would he waltz away fulfilled, his sights lready set elsewhere? </p>
<p>He admits to himself he doesn't know, and it's not a pleasant thought.</p>
<p>The next time Misto smiles at him, dazzling and sly, in the middle of his magic show, Tugger can only think that of course; of course the cleverest cat of all would be the one to understand it, to figure out the trick many a cat would kill for, the trick he himself hadn't known about until just now. That it isn't actually that hard to grab Tugger's attention; the hard part, the impossible part, was to keep it. </p>
<p>That the only way to keep that heart to himself would be to never give his own in return; the most definitive act of magic he'd performed. </p>
<p>Watching the magician's graceful movements, Rum Tum Tugger decides that maybe that's alright, that maybe this is just their own strange kind of romance. After all, he thinks, he doesn't want to think of a world in which there's anything that can capture his attention and adoration quite as fully as Mr. Mistoffelees. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this exact kind of Eternal Yearning Romance concept has probably been done before but i wanted to try my hand at it</p>
<p>ive only been around the cats block for like four days or so, if the characters are ooc or if things contradict The Secret Cats Lore pls cut me some slack lol </p>
<p>sorry for the weird wordy tone, i had no idea how to start this and by the time i got far enough into writing it i realized it read borderline pretentious for some reason, oops</p></blockquote></div></div>
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